Problem

A new premium service that allowed merchants to increase their exposure on Groupon.com by offering a premium location for a specified duration. Locations were bought by merchants through a third-party auction service using a predefined ad-spend. My role was Lead Product designer and responsible for the complete design strategy and design execution of this new product.

Results

Our analysis of Merchant Center's onboarding flows revealed critical friction points: excessive cognitive load correlated with significant abandonment rates. We executed a strategic two-week redesign sprint, implementing a hub-and-spoke architecture with persistent state management—enabling merchants to save progress and return when time permitted. This fundamental pattern shift addressed the core tension between information-dense onboarding requirements and merchants' limited availability.

The three-phase implementation delivered a comprehensive Sponsored Campaigns experience. Phase one integrated mobile and web onboarding directly into the existing Merchant Center, streamlining campaign creation, funding selection, and agreement workflows for merchants with active Groupon campaigns. Phase two introduced a real-time ROI dashboard featuring a novel chart selection pattern, allowing merchants to customize their view of four key performance indicators while providing campaign management controls. Phase three addressed the critical financial management gap, delivering transparent billing visibility and fund management capabilities. This holistic approach transformed a fragmented, high-friction experience into a cohesive merchant empowerment tool.